Hellfire's Queen

it's okay

Thursday
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I carefully pushed past Max and rushed to the door of the boat house, rattling the handle. I groaned in frustration when it didn't open. "There's gotta be another way in." Steve said, shining his touch through the window. Not wanting to waste another second, I concentrated on the door and flicked my head up causing it to fly open, almost breaking the hinges. Everyone stared at me, not a single word coming out of their mouths. I was afraid they wouldn't accept me, but I have bigger worries right now. I stepped through the door and glanced around, making sure it was safe before letting the others in.

"You're a total badass." Robin whispered to me as she walked past. A smile tugged at my lips as I held the door open for everyone. It was extremely dark inside and there were items all over the place. The wooden floors creaked no matter where you stepped and the boat swayed gently in the middle of the shed, occasionally splashing water up the sides. "What a dump." Steve said, shoving his flash light in his pocket and grabbing a paddle off the wall. He slowly approached the boat and tightened his grip on the paddle. Suddenly, he jabbed the tarp with the end of the paddle making Dustin jump. "What are you doing?" Dustin asked, shining his torch in Steve's face. Steve jabbed the tarp again and shrugged at Dustin. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked again in disbelief, obviously irritated by Steve's actions. "He might be in there." Steve said, stabbing the tarp a couple more times before giving up. "So take the tarp off!" Dustin whisper yelled. "If you're so brave, you take the tarp off." Steve retorted. Dustin scoffed and walked off, looking for other clues that Eddie was here.

"Hey, look over here." Max said, pointing her light at some food wrappers and empty beer bottles. Robin, Nancy and I looked over her shoulder. I picked up and empty beer bottle and instantly felt Eddie's presence. "He's here." I whispered. The girls looked at me, then turned to shine there flash lights at the boat. "You think he's in there?" Steve asked as he and Dustin walked around the boat to the side we were on. I carefully made my way over to the boat, wandering around the side Steve and Dustin were on before. The others watched me, not daring to even get close to the boat. I crouched down and brushed my fingers against the tarp, preparing to pull it off. Before I even got a chance, Eddie jumped out at me and shoved me hard into the wall. I groaned in pain when my back hit the other paddle that was hung on the wall. Eddie held a broken beer bottle up to my neck, slightly piercing my skin.

"WOAH WOAH EDDIE! EDDIE STOP! EDDIE STOP." Dustin yelled, holding his hands out infront of him. Steve and Robin jumped over the boat, landing behind Dustin, trying to see if I was okay. "Eddie it's me, it's Dustin." Eddie wasn't listening to any of them. He was afraid and I could feel it. "What are you doing here." Eddie mumbled, glaring at Dustin. "We're looking for you." Dustin responded. "We want to help." Nancy said, backing up what Dustin said. He pressed the beer bottle harder against my neck when Dustin tried to step closer. Steve and Robin immediately pulled him back, trying to make sure I wasn't put in any more danger. "Eddie..." Nancy began, holding her hands up and walking infront of the four. "...Look at who you've got pressed against the wall."

Eddie pulled his attention away from the others and met my eyes. As soon as he saw me, he dropped the bottle and fell to his knees. Steve and Robin sighed in relief, muttering words under their breath. "God Y/N I'm so sorry." Eddie sobbed. "I didn't know it was you." He held his head in his hands, avoiding everyone's gaze. I slid down the wall onto my knees and forced him to look at me. "Eddie it's okay." Even though we were both on our knees, I was still only up to his shoulders. I scooted closer to him so that my knees were between his. I looked up at him, moving his hair out of his face and wiped the tears from his eyes. Eddie tucked his head into the crook of my neck and loosely wrapped his arms around my waist. "It's okay, I'm here." I softly spoke into his ear, tugging at his denim vest. I glanced over his shoulder at the group. They all quickly looked away and pretended as if they were minding their own business. I shifted my hands from Eddie's vest to his chest, as he lifted his head from my neck. "You're okay." I whispered again, trying to comfort him. He slowly stopped shaking and rested his forehead against mine. I snaked my arms around his neck and held him close. "Thank you." Eddie mumbled, his voice raspy from crying. He pulled away from me, his hands not leaving my waist.

"Eddie, we wanna know what happened." Robin said, kneeling down to Eddie's level. He let go of my waist and slouched against the wall beside me. "You won't believe me." He sniffed, turning his head to look at Robin. "Try us." Max said from behind Robin. "Yeah you'd be surprised by what we've seen." Nancy added. I grabbed Eddie's hand, causing him to look at me. "It's okay, you can tell us." He finally gave in, motioning for everyone to sit down around us.

time skip

"You know, I tried to wake her man but she couldn't move..." Eddie said, staring at the ground. Robin and Nancy looked at me, remembering last night. "...It was like she was in a trance or something."

"Or under a spell." Dustin said. Eddie looked up at him with realisation. "A curse..." Eddie squeezed my hand. "Vecna's curse." Dustin finished. "Who's Vecna?" Steve asked, crossing his arms. "An undeath creature of great power." Dustin responded. Robin shifted uncomfortably where she sat, clearly freaked out. My breathing hitched and my eyes widened. "You said her eyes were white?" I asked, facing Eddie. "Well they were more rolled back, but yeah." He responded. Robin sighed and dragged her hands down her face. Nancy bit her bottom lip as if she were thinking. "What's wrong with you three?"  Max asked, referring to Robin, Nancy and I. "Yeah, you've been sharing looks this whole time. You know something we don't." Steve added, also noticing something was wrong. "We were planning to tell everyone today, but I guess we forgot with everything happening." Robin began, glancing at me. I nodded to show her that she could tell them. "If this Vecna dude's curse is what killed Chrissy, then we think Y/N is under the same curse." Robin said, looking at the ground. There was no denying that it wasn't true, not after everything Eddie said. "Tell me that's not true." Eddie demanded, forcing me to look at him by grabbing my jaw. "Tell me!" He raised his voice, his grip tightening on my face. "I won't lie to you Eddie." His expression softened and he let go of my jaw, leaning back against the wall.

"I'll be fine, I can protect myself." I said.

"We know you can, but we don't know exactly what Vecna can do yet." Steve said, messing with his hair. I could feel just how stressed everyone was. "I hate to break up our little party but it's getting late, we should get going." Robin mentioned, showing the time on her watch. "I'll stay with Eddie, if anything happens, I've got a radio with me." I said. Everyone agreed and began saying their goodbyes. "We'll be back, just sit tight." Dustin said as he, Max, Nancy and Robin followed Steve out of the boat house, leaving Eddie and I in silence.